My NZ Trip

Friday, August 28, 2009

My last week in New Zealand was a whirlwind. A trip to Dunedin that included everything from seeing the steepest street in the world, watching the girls win their match, and a few other things and races that shouldn't be mentioned all sent me out on a wonderful note.

I made a lot of fantastic friends, people I will never forget, and people that I surely will see again. I loved the country I loved the people and I loved the love. It was all together one of the best experiences of my life.

One of my last few nights I, with the help of Megs invited everyone out for dinner and drinks as a wee going away soiree. So many people showed up! It made me realize how many friends I had actually made. And they weren't just acquaintances, they were real genuine people that I had come to really love and care about! That's when it hit me that I was really leaving a place that had grown into my heart, and I felt so sad.

New Zealand is a country that you can't not love. The beauty and the atmosphere alone are enough to keep me mesmerized. The people are kind and welcoming, and the air to my whole trip was so lovely that I can't think of one bad thing about it. I even kinda loved Subway now that I think about it.

I don't know where my life is taking me. Rather, I don't even have a clue where I will be four months from now, but I know very much that I haven't seen the last of New Zealand, and I will miss it until I return.

Thank you everyone who made my trip the amazing journey that it was. I am so grateful for all the friends and family at home who supported me, followed my blog, and kept me in their thoughts. I am also forever in debt to the wonderful people of New Zealand, who without them, my trip would have been far from the perfection it was.

I will have more adventures, but until then you can keep up with me in my blog about my new Internship, which I just started this week!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Holy moly have I been busy. This has been the longest that I haven't blogged, and for that I am sorry. There has been no time! It's getting down to the final days of my stay, and there is so much left to do! I'm only writing this after an evening with some girls at the pub....

Anyways, do I have stories to tell! First off, I have had so many fun times. My last day of work was glorious and to start my freedom, I had a fantastic fish n chips party at Curl's house. The theme was "dig for gold" basically, they ordered about $100 worth of fish n chips, and you had to just dig for the good stuff. We also had Export Gold beer, and "gold" (white) wine along with a home made dessert that was ice cream with chunks of Tim Tams, Squiggles, and Snickers. It was fun, Mitchy did a good job planning it. We had 6 scoops of chips! Let's just say that is A LOT of french fries. A very healthy meal.

Next important news, I survived my first earthquake! It was New Zealand's 2nd largest quake ever, and it was off shore on the south island around a pretty uninhabited place, so no one got hurt which is good. It was a 7.8 on the scale, which is pretty big. I actually didn't know it was an earthquake, though. Sara and I were hanging out with Tracy, Matt, and Moir and Tracy and I both started feeling dizzy. She just brushed it off and was like "Oh, maybe it was an earthquake.." later on to find out it certainly was. It was kind of weird, like the TV was floating away from me or something, but I just thought it was something wrong with my eyes. Ha.. So no harm done, I kind of felt it, and I'm actually happy about it. We live by the ocean so we were on tsunami watch for a few hours also, although I'm not really sure what exactly I would do if a tsunami hit. I'm not really prepared for that kind of natural disaster.

Later on in the week Sara and I had a tourist day of Christchurch. It was very fun, we bought tram passes and went around the city all day long. We saw all the exhibits at the art gallery, which was quite interesting to say the least, and we even went to the history museum. I learned about Maori life and Moas (ancient extinct birds), and lots of fun facts about Christchurch. We also walked around the botanical park and had coffee at a mock-Spanish street called Regents St. We had kumera fries at the Dux Deluxe (the most delicious vegetable that should be everywhere in America...I'm on a mission to find kumera when I get back), and just had a really fun day. I like Christchurch a lot. Good city.

Our next adventure was the West Coast, and it was quite the drive! We went across Arthur's Pass through the Southern Alps to get to the coast. I drove from one shore to the other. It was beautiful. The mountains are now covered with snow, and it just sparkles in the sun. At first on our drive it was cloudy and you could hardly see anything, but at a certain point you get above the clouds and it's all blue sky and sparkling untouched white gleaming snow. Really indescribably beautiful. It was about a 4 hour drive, and we made it just in time before dark to see the cabins that we rented out- they were surrounded by a farm, and on a beach. What a strange combo. There were Sara's favorite shahammels (alpacas), and goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens. We walked up and down the beach and found a bunch of cool rocks that rival ANY rock family I've ever seen (Bridget, I have photos to prove it).

That evening, we walked across the road to see a Glow Worm Dell. That's a little worm that lives in the mountains and lights up at night. It's actually really neat, however, you have to walk up this little deserted train in the pitch black of night just to see all these tiny bugs. We were determined to do it as the good tourists that we were, but the night scared us so we waited outside until a family walked up and we followed them in. It was good fun. I tried to take photos of them but the whole glowing thing doesn't really transfer to a digital camera. Oh well.

The next day it was pouring rain, but we had already booked to go four-wheeling at the Franz-Joseph glacier, so we headed down further south from where we were staying (a little town called Hokitika). We had good spirits, and once we finally were suited up and on our quad bikes it didn't really matter how wet we got, because the dirtier the better. It was really fun, we drove through jungles and glacier rivers, which are the most crystal clear blue color you could imagine. Pure ice water. SO cool. The storm even cleared up and we had a fantastic time. The glaciers are really beautiful and it makes you feel small when you see how much power nature has. This glacier had carved out an entire side of the country. Really neat.

The next day we had to leave, but on our way out we made it up north past Greymouth to Punakaiki to see the Pancake rocks. They are these rocks that have formed into little stacks that look like pancakes, but no scientist can figure out why. The rocks are huge and they spread across an entire beach. There are also blowholes at these rocks that shoot up water when the tide comes in like a little geyser. Once again, nature being awesome. I think this trip has reinstated the word awesome for me, because some of the things I have seen and experienced have really filled me with awe. New Zealand is a wonderfully beautiful and neat country.

On the way home from the trip, Sara and I had the great idea to buy a boogie board and sled down a hill in the mountains. Mission accomplished. It was wonderful....Sara ate it once and got a big scrape on her back, and I was kind of a sledding pro, not to brag or anything...fun times.

Since we've got back from the West Coast, it's been a whirlwind really. The day we got back was a celebration for the girls of Western, because they won the league with like 4 games to go. Pretty impressive. We also house-sitted for Sara's mom, which was fun because she has a really neat apartment and a really cute dog named Ted. We took him to the beach and to the dog park and he was loving every second of it.

Curls and Megan were wonderful and took me to a farm that Curls' uncle used to own at the foot of the Southern Alps. It was so beautiful. We first stopped at a lake that was called Lake Coleridge. It was blue as the ocean and the sand was white as the Pensacola Beach that I spend my summers at. So gorgeous. We then drove over to Lake Ida, a lake that is in the shadows of a mountain so it is completely solid ice. At first it's scary to walk out on a frozen lake, but once you figure out how solid it is it's so much fun! We had Curls' dog Bessie with us and she was hilariously awkward walking on the ice. I tried to do a running dive that didn't really work out, and we had a couple of ice-skating races. It was really a good day. The farm was so neat, I could only dream of growing up in a place like that. So many places to get lost! We did a little four-wheeling action and took on a couple of rivers with the car. Overall, a fantastic day trip.

Yesterday, Sara's friend Georgia had a ingenious idea, and we jumped right on the bandwagon of it: to go for a winter dip. We actually jumped in the ocean. I thought my feet were going to fall off. I couldn't run fast enough out of that water. It was so cold!!! I am, however, glad to say that I've done it. Most of you who know me would understand how big of a thing that was, because I don't even get into most water unless it's the bathtub-warm ocean water of the Gulf on Pensacola Beach. I'm a wuss when it comes to being cold. It was certainly fun though.

Tomorrow's a big big day....I get to go whale watching! I'm so pumped. It's fun to be a tourist. And expensive. I suppose you only live once, so I'm taking my chances as they come, and I can't imagine a better time to go whale watching in New Zealand. I'll surely update the blog with those adventures.

My time is running short now, and I'm getting sad. I've gotten kind of used to my lovely little life here in Christchurch. It's so beautiful. That is really the best way to describe it. With the expiration dates on the milk starting to show my departure date, I'm trying to stretch my days and make them last as long as possible!

Start the countdown now, though. I will be home very, very soon.

I still miss everyone at home, and I'm already starting to miss everyone here. I'm beginning to think that I'm going to always be missing people and places now. I guess that's not always a bad thing, though. Good to have something to miss :)

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Today is a really really nice day. It is so clear you can see the entire Southern Alps mountain range and all of the Port Hills in one glance. The sun is shining and the air is so clear and nice, I've finally gotten a beautiful summer day :) It made running so much nicer. It's easy to be motivated to go outside when it's not rainy and cold. I suppose you gotta do what you gotta do. And with the help of my borderline psycho trainer Sara, I have been going out on the cold rainy days and running. She is kicking my butt. And it's helping. I've got every single one of my run times down by a ton...but back to what I started with: the sunshine! It makes me happy.

This past week has been kind of random. I hope everyone had a fun 4th. I sure did. American Independence was celebrated here in New Zealand, the right way. We all dressed up in our red, white, and blue and went out on the town. I personally had the Star Spangled Banner written on my back (I was wearing a backless dress), and we even found a belt that had "USA" written in camo in the dollar shop....don't ask me why they had it, but I bought it haha... We had beads and party hats and we hit the town. It was a fabulously fun night.

The next day we went and saw Matt play in a game with the Mainland Soccer team. I'm going to try and explain this but I will probably fail. So the teams around here all are mostly clubs, but the Mainland league is a group of players that are selected to play for their area. The area around here is Canterbury, which is probably the second best or largest behind the Auckland area. Sara plays for the women's Mainland team, and they practice a couple times a week, but they don't usually have that many games until the end of the season. Well the men's Mainland team was put together to play against a professional team from Wellington that actually plays in the Australian A-league. It's basically the only professional soccer team that NZ has. Long story short, the Mainland team ends up playing really well against those pros, and almost comes up with a victory (missed an open goal)...they end up with a tie, which most were pretty proud of. Matt played really well, and it was cool to see someone I knew play in a big stadium atmosphere. It was fun.

Also, Sunday Pip came!!! I was SO excited to get to see her again!!! Her sister was playing a hockey game here so she came to watch. It was the first time she'd really been to Christchurch I think. Sara managed to introduce her to some of the major food places (sushi ball, a couple of cafes, etc.) and we just hung out and caught up. She just got back from a trip across America, so it was fun to catch up on her crazy stories. I love those foreigners. Seems like every time I'm with Pip I'm planning something. This time, it's when we're going on a Europe trip (we've decided 2 years to save, and that we want to do a Tour de France on bikes), and also a Vegas trip next July, which will be a bit easier for me living in the states. We've also discussed whether or not we should all try to play professional soccer in Australia and live together, or if it would be fun to all live together in Auckland. It's fun to imagine all those things. Being around Pip makes me want to live with her. Always funny times. She's working on a muesli business right now, and about to be working in a fishery for her dad. Ha. I love my friends.

Big news: I quit Subway. I decided it's time to move on to bigger and better things. Ha. I've got less than 4 weeks left now, and I don't want to spend them making sandwiches. Although I made a lovely sandwich artist, my time with the layered meat, bread, and cheese is over. My boss was ticked off a bit, because they have to rehire now and I'd only been there for a little over a month. Oh well. I've got things I want to do before I leave, and Subway gets in the way!!! I'm going to work the rest of the week, and then have my freedom.

Yesterday Sara and I went to Sumner Beach, which is pretty close to her house, and it was so pretty. We took Ruba and she went mad running around. There is a huge rock thing that you can climb all around, and it's got caves and lagoons and you can go to the very top or all the way underneath. We were exploring. We threw a ball into all the lagoons and made Ruba jump in to get it... ha we really were like little kids, it was fun. I forgot my camera, though which made me so mad! That just means we'll have to go back...

That's about it on the fun front. I've been working a lot, which is also part of the reason I quit. Tracy and Matt have moved out of their house to save for when they move to Australia, and everyone else is kind of just hangin out. It's funny how you can be in a completely foreign place and have it become just normal all of a sudden. One day I woke up and realized I was taking it for granted! I am currently in the process of turning myself back into an awe-filled tourist. I need to document and remember every second of my trip here.

I miss home, and I'm thinking about every single one of you. I'll keep updating with the last four weeks of fun filled stories. Be looking for them!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

It's been about two weeks since I last blogged (sorry) and holy cow, has a lot changed. The world has lost too much! Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and even the OxyClean guy have all passed away...morale of those stories: cancer sucks, which we all know too well, and heart disease is scary, so take care of your bodies, and lay off the drugs. How sad.

On a lighter note, the lovely Erin Campbell is married! (She looked gorgeous...I facebook stalked, I wish I could have been there!).. And also U. S. of A. put a spoiler on Spain's undefeated run with a huge upset in the semifinals of the Confederation's Cup, and almost did the same thing in the finals against Brazil! What fun games to watch...I'm an offense girl, obviously, but America's defense, well the way they played was something special. Talk about getting in on every tackle possible....Onyewu and Howard are fantastic, really.

I have officially found my most favorite restaurant in the WHOLE WORLD. It is undoubtedly the best food I have ever had. The whole time I was eating with a smile on my face. It is called "Lotus Heart" and it is this small restaurant in the Cathedral Square in downtown Christchurch. From the window you can see the lit up art thing, and the Cathedral, and lots of the city, because it's on the second floor. It's like this zen/chic/meditative place all wrapped up in this cute eccentric and eclectic atmosphere. The room is small and the tables have gerber daisies (my favorite!) and candles, and there is a flute player in the corner serenading the guests. The food is all-vegetarian/vegan, and-before you write it off- it is amazing. Even you carnivores would not be able to resist. There was everything from salads to burgers to Indian curries (what I had) and pizzas. I can't describe how good it was!! I am definitely going back....!!!

Moving on to my goings on...I have been busy! I've finally gotten more hours at Subway, which is good because that means I'm making money and going to be able to quit soon! I hate it really...I am actually working with all 16 year olds. And they're all dating each other. I so do not belong there. I'm an outcast 22 year old at Subway in New Zealand. What am I doing with my life...hah. Anyways, the point is I am making money and doing fun stuff when I'm not there.

One good thing did happen at work, however. I saw all the All Blacks rugby team; they walked right in front of us. And I also got to meet the man that does NZ's version of Wheel of Fortune. He is probably the only New Zealander on TV that I would recognize...How funny is that? He was nice, and liked my accent :) hah.

After that fun filled day (I was at Subway)...Sara and I drove through a little cute town on the water called Lyttleton, and then took Ruba to Corsica Bay, which is absolutely gorgeous. I will post pictures on here shortly, so be looking for them (probably tomorrow), but it is a place where we went in December...Bridge, Sarah, Sara, and Staci braved the water and swam out in it, but it is about 30 minutes' drive from Sara's house. There are mountains in the distance and hills all around the crystal clear blue water. We took a small hike around the bay, which was really neat. There's an island out in the bay that I would love to kayak too! I need to buy a kayak....

That week I also started employing Sara as my personal trainer (almost regretably at this point...just kidding). She is kicking my behind! I need it...She's really good. She's helping me with my strength, agility, and fitness. I go to the gym and then meet her at the soccer fields and she runs me ragged. I think she is enjoying it a bit too much...But I am definitely getting fitter, better, more comfortable, and faster. I've also been training with her team a bit, which has been okay. I still haven't gone in for any tackles or anything like that...biding my time really, waiting for a good moment to surprise someone/keeping myself safe. Ha.

Sara and I also took a really neat day trip to a frozen lake! We drove into the Southern Alps, it was about an hour and a half drive, and stopped at a lake called Lydia (I think) that was frozen over. It was really fun, we walked out on the ice and hiked all around it on a small trail that ran around it...and also through some private property, but we had no problem maneuvering around the electric fences. The Southern Alps are so unbelievable gorgeous this time of year. The snow looks perfect, and they are just majestically breathtaking. I also took lots of photos of that day, which will pop up sooner or later.

This past weekend was another treat! We went to an All Black's rugby game! It was in the big stadium in downtown Christchurch, and it was packed! We paid for the cheap seats in the Tui stand, but ended up being able to weasel our way into the nicer, closer seats, which was perfect. The highlight of my night was being able to see a Haka performed live. It is this intense Maori dance that they do right before kickoff, basically in the faces of their opponent. I would be so scared if someone did that to me! It's really something you all have to YouTube, because it is just ridiculously cool, but hard to explain. Intense is really all I can say. They were playing against Italy, and they won. Everyone was cheering and doing the wave and going crazy and drinking, just like any professional or national sporting event you'd see anywhere. The atmosphere was just fun. Apparently even though they won they didn't play well, but I don't know the game well enough to know the difference, so I was happy about it.

After the game we went to a going away party for Stephanie, one of Sara's good friends. She's moving to Hamilton with some friends. It was a fun little party, and I got to meet a few people that I haven't met yet (Steph plays for Coastal, while Sara plays for Western, so I got to meet all the Coastal people that I didn't know yet).

Sunday I spent my whole day watching The Lord of the Rings. I know, I know, no need to say anything. It's a large portion of my life that I won't get back, but I felt that it was necessary. It was all filmed in New Zealand, and for that reason I felt I had to watch it. And I discovered it will help me to explain the coolness that is New Zealand: okay, so all the mountains and snow covered peaks and gorgeous rolling green hills? Yeah, that's all here, and real, and so close. The clear blue rivers that they canoe through, I drive by those daily. The mountains are always in the distance, and they really look that neat! It's all very beautiful and hard to describe, and I hope The Lord of the Rings has aided in my attempt.

I believe I have caught up on my life with my blog. I've got a few things planned for my upcoming weekend already, even though it's only Tuesday. Matt is playing in an important soccer game that he was chosen for, so we're going to see that, and then possibly another day trip. Seeing as how I've stopped drinking, my weekends are not spent hungover and miserably eating gross food and sleeping. It's really a strangely lovely way of life...hah. Who would have thought?

I PROMISE to be a better blogger in my final weeks here. It's less than a month now. Weird...but I have most definitely been thinking about all the goings on at my home(s), and missing every single one of you. I hope everyone is having fun in the last few weeks of summer!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

It's been 10 days since I last blogged!!! I need to catch up! I think I left off with Megan's birthday, and Sara and I were about to go out to to celebrate with her for mine and Sara's new jobs and her birthday. We went out to lunch at this pub place, and just as soon as we ordered our food, Sara was attacked by what I think was the swine flu. (HA!) Funny now, but at the time we all kind of freaked out. For some reason she felt really sick, and got so cold that she was shivering. She had two puffer jackets on and my Ugg boots and then drank two pots of tea and a hot chocolate and couldn't get warm! We went straight from there to the doctor's, which I had to drive to (scary-luckily it wasn't a manual). He said that she'd gotten some kind of flu, but it was okay and probably not swine flu but he didn't want to test her cause even if she had it she wouldn't get the vaccine thing because she was strong enough to not need it or something like that. So for our celebration day, no one ate anything and we went home and slept the afternoon away. Exciting.

The next few days were filled with me running, working, going to the gym, a bit of beach time, and playing soccer. I also got a library membership, which was exciting for me...Thursday night we went to eat with a few peeps at a Mexican restaurant. The cheese dip was not the same sadly. That is one thing NZ is lacking...good Mexican food. Anyways, I met a couple more of Sara's friends, and we went to a small bar up the street and just had a couple drinks and talked. Highlight of the night: one of Sara's friends has seen the documentary "Lost Children of Rockdale County." I don't know exactly how that came up in conversation, but all the way across the globe people know about the syphilis outbreak my hometown is famous for. Classic. I laughed for a while about that one.

Saturday was the big day. BUS TRIP! It was actually really fun! After all the games that day (the men's game was so freezing that Meg, Sara, Tracy, and I all left at halftime) we went home, showered, and headed to the clubrooms where the buses were picking us up. Basically, the bus is a big school bus, and it drives you to the furthest pubs in Christchurch, stopping at four or five throughout the night. It's loud and everyone is dancing and singing and drinking on the bus, and then you get off and just party at all the different places. It's hard to describe how it is so fun, but it just is. The last stop is in downtown Christchurch, where it drops you off so you can spend the evening dancing. We danced so much...It was fun. I stayed out with Matt until 4:30...needless to say, Sunday I was absolutely useless. I was pretty much nonexistent until Monday afternoon.

I did get to go and see Tomo again, however. She came in for the weekend to stay with Josie, and Sunday we pretty much just hung with them all day long. It was just what I needed, and it was fun. We watched Summer Heights High. That is the most hilarious show ever. Everyone should YouTube it. I had already seen it, but there are hilarious outtakes for each of the characters (that are all played by the same guy) and they are equally as entertaining. SO GOOD! Check it out.

That brings me to my next point I will be making on this blog: I'm done with drinking. Really. It's bad for me and it makes me not want to run, and I need to run because I need to be fit fit fit for season. So I'm turning up the heat on my training, and cutting out the booze. So responsible and mature, I know.

I've got big plans coming up. I'm finally getting more work hours, which is good because I need the money, and on top of that the All Blacks (rugby team) will be coming to the mall that I work in. People are getting excited...I hope I get to see them do the Haka. Another good thing to YouTube. They get really into it. It's like a traditional Maori dance thing the Rugby team does before each match. It's actually really intense and neat. Sara and I are having a low-key weekend. I want to watch the Lord of the Rings, because I've never seen it and apparently there is a Christchurch tour for the movie (it was filmed in NZ-mostly in Queenstown though). We also are going to go kayaking some time soon at the beach...it's like surfing only in a kayak, I'm pumped for that also. And last but not least, with my next couple of paychecks, I'm planning a trip to go whale watching! I can't wait :)!!

I hope I didn't leave anything out...It's been a while.

I got really homesick yesterday, so I made macaroni and cheese and that helped a bit. It was really tasty. I hope everything is going good for you guys at home. I love you all!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

It's been about a week since I've last blogged, and a lot has happened! I've just been so busy with my work at Subway...haha (not). I get hardly any hours there...which sucks, but doesn't suck at the same time because its not like I love making sandwiches. It makes my hands smell like onions. Its gross. But it's money, so I'm okay with it.

Thursday, after I worked a grueling two hour shift and Subway, we went to lunch with Josie. It was at this delicious little house that was turned into a cafe. I had falaffel for the first time, which was really good. Anyways, after that we went to Honeypot cafe downtown to show Sara's paintings to the owner, and she put three of them up! Really exciting for her. She tried to play it real cool like she had totally done that before.

Friday we went to the beach with Ruba again and watched the kayakers and surfers. I wish I had the guts to go out in that freezing cold water. It looks so fun, but I can't imagine that I'd be happy at all if I was that freezing. That night, we went to the movies with Tracy and Matt. We saw "I Love You Man" and it was hilarious. Loved it. The highlight of my night, however, was eating the delicious cheese pizza before the movie. Apparently, it's really weird here to eat cheese pizza. They put things like apricots and cranberries on their pizzas and consider that normal...right. Cheese suits me just fine.

Saturday was the big day. We went to all the soccer games that day, and it was freezing. Freakin freezing. Then, we rushed back to the house, got dressed, and went to Gunnie's house for drinks before our party. The best part is, it was a double-denim party. Amazing. I wore cut off denim shorts that just happened to come all the way above my belly button and a denim vest that was equally as ugly and short. Sara's costume was also hilarious. She was wearing little kid's too short for her overalls and a denim vest along with the best find of the denim shopping day: denim platform shoes. Really awesome. Somehow, she ended up having some boy at the party beg for her number. I mean beg. She was so ugly. I don't know how she does it. So we went to Gunnie's in our denim, and then all piled in a car (Megan drove us) and went to the clubrooms. The clubrooms, as I have explained, are rooms that everyone from the club that Sara and her friends play for go to after all the games on Saturday have been played to basically drink and hear about everyone else's games. There are men and women of all ages that all know each other in this one bar-like place and we prance in in our our denim glory, and they all stare at us. It was halfway a little intimidating and also somewhat funny. We stayed there for a bit, listened to all the stories of the game, and then went to the party, which was held at a bar.

The party was for Hannah, one of Sara's friends that was turning 21. It was really fun. We ate, drank, played the peanut game (really cool- you drop a peanut in your beer and the last person to have their peanut rise to the top loses and has to drink), we danced, and even played a bit of the pokie machines. It was a really fun night. Then, Megan drove us home, we woke up the next morning and laid around all day and watched movies. Quality weekend. Sunday night we also went to eat dinner at Sara's half-brother's house. He's older and married with kids and it was a really nice dinner.

Hmm. What next? It's hard to remember everything I'm up to days later...I guess I should blog more often.

Monday Aaron came home, which was exciting. I had to move out of the room for a bit though. He's only home for a week, he got a contract with a team in Australia to play soccer, which is really cool and even more so because it's in the middle of their season, so he's going to jump right in and start playing midway through. I think he's really excited.

Tuesday I worked, and we went to the Art Center...That's about it. There's a lot of cool art there though. Maori artists are very tribal-like and they have a lot of really neat meanings and symbols in their work. I really liked it.

Big news today: Sara finally got a job!!! She's working at a gym called Configure Express. She'll be a gym instructor/personal trainer. It's exciting and we're going to celebrate, because I also got my first Subway paycheck for about $30 today. That's about $20 for all you Americans. High rollin.

The rest of the week is about the same: work, Tracy's house for dinner, Curl's house for dinner, and so on. We are, however, going on a bustrip on Saturday that everyone is raving about. I'm hoping it's all that everyone says it is. Sounds like you just hop on a bus, drink, get off the bus, drink in a bar, and then do it over again. But apparently this is great fun. I should have some great stories about it in a couple of days, so I will keep my blog updated.

I miss and love you all. It's weird to think of everything going on back home, my family is at the beach, my friends are surely by now all gathering for Erin's wedding (congrats), and I am growing a bit green with jealousy of all the fun everyone is having. I'm going to need to have that much more fun to catch up :)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

So I got a JOB! WooooHOOO! Subway in the mall that is walking distance from Sara's house. Yes... $12.50 an hour (that's NZD so it's not that much at all) and probably just 20 hours a week, but it'll keep my pockets a bit more padded than no job would...So I'm not complaining, and hey, I got a cool Subway visor and t-shirt out of it. Ha.

I trained today. It was good, fast, easy. They call me a "sandwich artist" to be specific...but really that's my job name. I just had a few discrepancies with those dang gloves (I have clammy hands and the gloves are so hard to get on!), and the sauce things that you put on come out so fast! I ruined a sandwich or two. Overall, a better first day than Chilito's a few years back...and they want me to work tomorrow and next Tuesday. I get work immediately, and the weekend off. Perfect. Plus, the latest I would work will be 6:30 on most days and 9:30 on Thursdays and Fridays. Already better than Dick's midnight closings...I'm quite happy for my little part time job.

Sara's got a couple of job prospects also. She interviewed today and yesterday for two gym jobs, they actually have salaries and commission things in them, that's what a degree will get you as opposed to Subway. She'll find out soon though, I'll keep everyone updated.

It's been a really gorgeous couple of days. Like the kinds of days that make you have the best runs ever and you just want to sit and look outside. I also got the new Dave Matthews Band CD. AMAZING. I love them. Made my week actually.

Last night Curls picked me up and we had dinner over there. I got to see Maori Megan again (YAY)...and Curls cooked while we caught up. She made a huge deal about me not eating meat, so she made me go buy a substitute (veggie sausages) because she thought me just eating veggies and potatoes wasn't sufficient. She's funny. Mitchy was there too, she's funny. And she cut her bangs. Looks good. Then Curls took us through all the photos she took in America. They were ridiculous. I can't believe you all let her come back from America with just random photos of food, fat people, and cars. I'm not talking about just a few of those photos, but it took about an hour for her to go through the photos of the hummers, trucks, school buses, oh and the one sea horse she found interesting at the Aquarium. That is really all she has. It's pitiful. It's Curls. I wish you could have witnessed her explanations of them as well, priceless.

Thought I'd just update on the job sitcho. We're off to see Tracy now. I miss you all back home, I will call soon.